MIDEAST TURMOIL: THE SCENE

MIDEAST TURMOIL: THE SCENE; Arab Child Of Uprising Grew Up Into Gunman

Published: March 9, 2002

GAZA CITY, March 8—
The Palestinian gunman who broke into the Jewish settlement of Atzmona late Thursday and killed five teenagers in a 15-minute rampage was a Hamas member who had been radicalized during a youth spent throwing rocks in the first Palestinian uprising, a boyhood friend said.

The assailant, Muhammad Farhat, 19, emptied nine ammunition clips and threw six grenades before he was shot dead by Israeli troops, military authorities said.

Four of his victims were killed while studying religious texts, and the fifth was burned to death by a grenade hurled into his dormitory.

About 150 students live in the Atzmona settlement and study at its religious boarding school. The boys were part of a premilitary program in which their induction into the army is postponed for a year so they can study the Torah and do some basic military training.

Their school is highly regarded because its graduates all go into combat units and a very high proportion become officers. The five who were killed were to become army officers.

Dozens were studying Jewish texts in a fluorescent-lit hall just before midnight when the rattle of Mr. Farhat's assault rifle silenced their prayers, authorities said.

Mr. Farhat charged from room to room attacking the students, officials said. He tossed a grenade into one bedroom in a trailer, killing a student in his bed and leaving the room a scorched shell of gray ash.

Today, thousands of mourners attended a funeral for three of the victims at a Jerusalem cemetery. Among them were fellow students, some wounded in the attack.

Yonatan Sinclair, 18, a friend of one of the dead students, Asher Marcus, said the group was devoted to seminary studies and was excited about joining the army, often organizing parties to celebrate the occasion when one became a soldier.

In Gaza, where the tall, thin Mr. Farhat grew up, feelings were very different. Mr. Farhat's boyhood friend Maamoun Abu Kadum praised him for ''carrying out his mission,'' adding, ''We ask God to grant him an honored place in heaven, because he deserves it.''

Mr. Abu Kadum described a childhood spent in an old neighborhood of downtown Gaza City, from where he and his friend could see the Nahal Oz crossing point into Israel.

The young Muhammad Farhat watched Israeli soldiers there daily, moving freely past his neighborhood. He grew angry and troubled and began searching for a mission.

''Day by day the question mark in our minds became bigger,'' said Mr. Abu Kadum. Soon they joined the first Palestinian uprising, known in Arabic as the intifada. Its street battles lasted six years, ending in 1993.

The boys threw rocks at soldiers and helped to hide older youths like Imad Aqel, a leader of an underground armed branch of Hamas, who found a home with Mr. Farhat's family. In December 1993, Mr. Aqel was gunned down by Israeli troops at the Farhat home.

''On that day he took me and showed me the blood of Imad and he said, 'He was a hero and I hope one day I will become like him,' '' Mr. Abu Kadum said of his friend.